PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Jon Gillies’ 27 saves were more than enough and Providence rode goals by Shane Luke, Nick Saracino and Kevin Rooney to a 3-0 victory over Vermont on Friday night at Schneider Arena.
Brody Hoffman and Mike Santaguida were more than reliable for the Catamounts in net. The duo combined for 27 saves, but in the end, it was the lack of offensive punch from the players in front of them that bit them.
“We just weren’t sprinting to the net,” said Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon. “I don’t really think [Gillies] felt like he was under siege at all tonight.”
It was a physical, chippy contest in which Providence’s Connor MacPhee set the tone just seconds after the initial puck-drop by flattening an unsuspecting Catamount defender. The Catamounts were not content to let Providence throw the only blow, though. Several players took exception to Noel Acciari just two minutes later, which led to a brief exchange of pleasantries in front of the Providence student section.
Vermont was not done either as forward Anthony Petruzzelli crushed Ross Mauermann in the open ice midway through the period. Mauermann was slow to get up, causing visible concern from the hometown fans. Despite the fact that Mauermann returned minutes later, the hit left Friars’ coach Nate Leaman initially incensed. His emotions at the time were different than those postgame, however.
“He’s OK – it was a clean hit,” Leaman stated, “I watched it on tape… kudos to the officials for getting [that call] right.”
Despite both teams’ commitment to physicality, offensive chances opened up occasionally throughout.
Trevor Mingoia nearly scored just three minutes in, but Hoffman was able to stop him from point-blank range. Some two minutes later, a cavalry of Vermont players had their chance at a loose puck in front of the Providence net, and it was only after a number of shots that Gillies was able to locate and freeze the puck.
The Friars’ line of Luke, Mark Jankowski and Mingoia was responsible for getting the Friars on the board. After a well-sustained attack, Jankowski found Luke wide-open and Luke slotted a puck past Hoffman’s right pad at 6:47 for his third goal of the season.
Leaman was especially impressed with the efforts of Jankowski, who earned first star honors for the night.
“Mark was on tonight,” Leaman said. “He was making a lot of plays. He’s assertive [and] he’s making plays when he’s on the ice.”
Saracino doubled the Friars’ lead just 1:55 into the second frame. Once again, Mingoia and Jankowski assisted on the goal. Mingoia found Saracino streaking down the middle of the ice and Saracino calmly wristed one past Hoffman’s blocker for his fourth tally of the season.
Despite penalties to Alexx Privitera and Colin Markison that led to 43 seconds of five-on-three time, Vermont stood tall on the penalty kill just minutes after Saracino’s goal.
Hoffman stymied Mauermann with a dazzling glove save at 4:26 and stopped Connor MacPhee from close range at 5:08.
However, it only got worse for Hoffman from that point.
During four-on-four play following penalties to Mark Adams and Privitera, Hoffman was shaken up following a pile-up in front of his net. It was a sign of things to come for the Catamounts.
Just over a minute later, Kevin Rooney sliced through the Vermont defense and zipped a shot past a still-shaken Hoffman for his first career goal at Schneider Arena. The play led Sneddon to call time-out, and Hoffman was replaced by Sanaguida during the stoppage.
Sneddon said it was the coach’s call to remove Hoffman from the game at that time.
Santaguida was strong in relief, shutting out the Friars and giving the Catamounts a chance to mount a comeback.
The back end of the second period saw Vermont generate a variety of chances. Unfortunately for them, Gillies was more than game. He shunned Jake Fallon on a shot from the high slot at 10:35, and then made a pad save to stone an open Rob Darrar at 12 minutes.
The third period did not feature much action, but an early charging penalty on Providence’s Brandon Tanev led to a meeting between Tanev and Vermont captain Mike Paliotta. Kevin Irwin, who was in the middle of a great deal of dust-ups, got tangled with Providence’s Connor MacPhee just minutes later, leading to another gathering between the two teams.
Sneddon was disappointed with the third period effort: “They finished, they played a hard 60 minutes. I don’t think we even made them fatigued at the end. You’ve got to play for pride at that point, and we didn’t do that.”
